The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is working to enhance the water resistance of water recycling centers and wastewater treatment pumping stations. Flooding due to storm surges and complex natural disasters is assumed. In addition to installing water barriers at the required height, the location of ventilation holes will also be raised. Preventing economic stagnation and deterioration of the sanitary environment due to the loss of wastewater treatment function. Under the Tokyo Restoration Project, in order to improve the level of disaster prevention measures, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has set a goal of making 40 of the 110 sewerage facilities waterproof by 2030 and the remaining 70 by the 2030s.
Image of water resistance of wastewater treatment facilities (provided by the Sewerage Bureau, Tokyo Metropolitan Government)
The Water Reclamation Center is a wastewater treatment facility. In addition to pumping natural wastewater to the center, the pumping station also pumps rainwater and discharges it into rivers, seas, etc. There are 20 centers and 90 pumping stations in Tokyo.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has so far blamed the tsunami for flooding at the wastewater treatment facilities. In an emergency, watertight doors and waterstops have been installed at entrances such as the building entrance. In the future, in addition to tsunamis, we will have to deal with rising water levels due to storm surges and other complex disasters. If the problem cannot be solved by raising the height of the watertight doors or vents, it will be necessary to renovate the facility. An official from the Sewerage Bureau said, “In the renovation, we will basically rebuild the building by moving the electrical equipment for the pump to the second floor.”
Measures are also set for each disaster. Tsunami corresponds to the maximum height (mean sea level of Tokyo Bay (TP) plus 2.63 meters) generated by an earthquake directly hitting the Tokyo metropolitan area. Prepare for inundation depths due to storm surges TP plus 3.6666 to 4.866 meters. For river flooding, it corresponds to the inundation depths simulated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (annual probability of exceeding 1 in 200) for nationally controlled rivers such as the Arakawa River. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is urgently implementing countermeasures for rivers in the face of flooding risks due to the Tokai Heavy Rainfall that occurred in September 2000 (with an annual probability of exceeding 1 in 100).
Measures taken at the center and pumping station vary depending on the location, age of the building, etc. The Sewerage Bureau has been conducting research and design of the facility since fiscal year 2011. "We are looking at how much of a water barrier is needed at each facility, how high the pipes need to be raised, etc. There is no specific date set for when construction will begin." (Sewerage Bureau official) .
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to continue investigating and come up with specific measures.
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